Ernesto Tomasini

In 2016 he performed his new one man entertainment, "One Life To Live!“, at the National Theatres of Germany and Italy. He is singer/songwriter of the prog-rock band Almagest!, with which he tours extensively, appearing in venues like the Volksbuehne in Berlin and festivals like the Kurt Weill Fest. Recently Tomasini collaborated with electronic producers Man Parrish and Shackleton, who wrote for him "Devotional Songs“, the critically acclaimed live show and album, which was among the best of 2016 for The Wire, The Quietus and many more. Other collaborations include Marc Almond, the late "father of industrial music" Peter Christopherson (founder of Coil, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV), Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons), Andrew Liles (Nurse With Wound), members of Larsen [it] , Current 93 (he was special guest at their first Queen Elizabeth Hall concert, alongside Anohni), Rolo McGinty of The Woodentops, Othon, Adam Donen and José Macabra, with whom he opened the 2011 Drop Dead Festival in Berlin.

From 2013, after a six-year period dedicated almost exclusively to music, he returned to theatre with three new plays written especially for him: Andrea Cusumano's Petit Cheval Blanc, Roberta Torre's Aida and Il Mutamento's Mamma Schiavona. In 2017 he debuted his own musical comedy, Beato chi ci crede, at the Out Off Theatre in Milan.

In 2012 he was included in the Theatre/Music section of Eccellenza Italiana (Italian Excellency, with presentation by the President of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano), for representing Italy in the world. In 2013 he was awarded the prize "Sicilian in the World" and in 2016 received the keys to the city by the mayor of his hometown of Palermo. A lecturer on theatre history and techniques he has given master-classes to drama students in England, Spain and Mexico. Tomasini is the only Italian to have given a masterclass at RADA Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His work and performance style are discussed in four books and an academic essay. For two years (2010–2012) Ernesto was the London correspondent of the Italian magazine Musical!.

Very active in the fashion world, Tomasini performed at the shows of hat designer Nasir Mazhar for the 2008 and 2009 London Fashion Week and for Carlo Volpi at Pitti Uomo 2017.

Having made some early experiments in the late '90s with a production called The Other Woman, in 2002 Tomasini started to create (in various capacities) his own shows and first attracted attention with an appearance at the Edinburgh Festival with True or Falsetto? A Secret History of the Castrati. Written by Time Out critic Lucy Powell, the show was a sell out hit not only in Edinburgh but also in London for two seasons and on international tours, in three different languages. This was followed by Ernesto's own script for The Veiled Screen: A Secret History of Hollywood! which has had two London runs in 2006, sponsored by the Arts Council of England. Tomasini's style of performance – an operatic, dark and twisted blend of Italian Cabaret, avant-garde performance art and thought-provoking Vaudeville – has been described "as shocking as it is moving".

In 1992 he moved to the UK where, after graduating at the Arts Educational London School, he worked as actor/singer on the West End stage (Chicago the Musical), in Off-West End productions (Blind Summit's Mr China's Son) and with experimental theatre companies (Lindsay Kemp).

Tomasini begun his career at 16 on the Italian comedy circuit. Throughout his teens he devised comedy sketches and sang songs in smoky clubs and small cabaret spaces in his home town of Palermo. On one instance he caused a riot by performing his "outrageous" show at a conservative political party's celebrations. As his acts became more sophisticated (with original songs co-written by himself) he moved up to exclusive clubs until he landed on the legitimate stage, appearing next to one of Italy's leading stars of the time, Duilio Del Prete, in the national premiere of Franz Xaver Kroetz's Death on Christmas Night. After this he performed in numerous theatre productions, never abandoning his first love: Cabaret (something he continues to do to this day). He was the support act for TV comedian Nino Frassica and performed on the televised (RAI 3) Premio Anna Magnani. For the Scuola di Cabaret TV show, he created comic characters that became household names and in 1990 he was awarded the prize for best comedy act from Sicily.

Ernesto Tomasini (born 15 May 1968, in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian actor/singer/writer living in Britain. Best known for his more recent forays into contemporary music, he has also had a 30-year career on the stage.